The second phase of the study has been
published by the Journal of Family Violence, June 2005. The study is
available online to subscribers of the Journal, but it is
also available for individual purchase.

Journal of Family Violence

Issue: Volume 20, Number 3, June 2005

A Measure of Court Response to Requests for
Protection

By Steve Basile, Fatherhood
Coalition, Milford, Massachusetts

Abstract

Are male victims of domestic violence
provided the same protections as female victims? With increasing
entanglement of custody and domestic violence law, the answer to this
question is critical for fathers embroiled in disputes where allegations are
sometimes made to secure custody of children. All non-impounded requests for
Abuse Prevention Orders initiated in Massachusetts
Gardner District Court, in the year 1997, involving opposite gender
litigants were analyzed to determine if court response to the associated
allegations is affected by the gender of those litigants. These orders were
previously examined and male and female defendants were found similarly
abusive. By studying the characteristics of each case, and overall court
response at court hearings, a determination is made concerning any evident
gender trends in the aggregate court response to requests for protection.
Despite gender-neutral language of abuse prevention law (M.G.L. c. 209A),
application of that law favors female plaintiffs.

The first part of the study has been
published by the Journal of Family Violence, Issue 1, February 2004.
The
study is available online to subscribers of the Journal, but
is also available for individual purchase.

Comparison of Abuse Alleged by Same- and Opposite-Gender Litigants as
Cited in Requests for Abuse Prevention Orders

By Steve Basile, Fatherhood
Coalition, Milford, Massachusetts

Abstract

Domestic violence is
commonly portrayed as something male batterers do to their female victims.
Much research excludes study of female-perpetrated violence. This study
develops a two-gender measure of abuse as documented by requests for
protection. All nonimpounded Abuse Prevention Orders (M.G.L. c.
209A) issued in Massachusetts' Gardner District Court in the year 1997 were
analyzed by gender to examine the level and types of violence alleged by
plaintiffs. The level and types of violence were categorized and measured by
examining Abuse Claimed Checkboxes found on each Complaint for
Protection and by applying quantitative scales to affidavits, or
plaintiff statements, filed as part of each request for protection. Despite
widespread misconceptions that tend to minimize female abuse, examination of
these court documents shows that male and female defendants, who were the
subject of a complaint in domestic relation cases, while sometimes
exhibiting different aggressive tendencies, measured almost equally abusive
in terms of the overall level of psychological and physical aggression.